KFC Korea CEO Eom Ik-soo speaks during a conference at the Korea Press Center in Seoul, Friday. He said the Korean unit of the Kentucky-headquartered fried chicken chain will operate 500 stores here by 2023, up from the 214. / Courtesy of KFC Korea

By Lee Hyo-sik

KFC Korea will open 300 new stores by 2023 to compete more effectively with BBQ and other home-grown fried chicken franchises, the company CEO said Friday.

The Korean unit of the Kentucky-headquartered fried chicken chain also plans to hire nearly 1,000 new workers to staff the outlets. It now directly operates all its 214 stores across the country, unlike other fried chicken brands that let individual owners open stores under their brands.

"KFC Korea will operate 500 stores nationwide by 2023 to become the country's best chicken brand," company CEO Eom Ik-soo told a press conference. "Our direct management helps ensure consistency in the quality of menus across our stores and implement marketing strategies more effectively."

He said the company is in a better position to achieve sustainable growth after it was acquired by KG Group, a mid-tier business group centering on fertilizers, in March.

"When the brand was owned by a private equity fund, it wasn't easy to draw up long-term business strategies because the investment fund is largely interested in maximizing short-term profits," Eom said. "But under KG Group, KFC can invest more, hire new workers and contribute more to improving local communities. We can also create synergies with KG Inicis and other group units."

KG acquired KFC Korea, which opened its first store in Seoul in 1984, from CVC Capital Partners for 50 billion won ($44 million). In 2014, the Hong Kong-based fund paid Doosan Group nearly 100 billion won for the brand.

In 2016, the fast-food chain had 177 billion won in sales but incurred a 12.2 billion won operating loss.

"We failed to turn things around in the first half of this year," Eom said. "But we are positive that the company will be in the black in the latter half. Consumers should know that we use only high-quality, unfrozen domestic chickens to make our dishes. We also will strengthen a mobile sales platform to attract more mobile-savvy young consumers."